The International Maritime Labour Market (Sixteenth-Nineteenth Centuries)

Abstract

This chapter explores the modes of the recruitment of seamen in European countries with changing economic positions from the sixteenth to nineteenth century. It discusses the four divisions of recruitment policies: mixed systems of free and unfree labour; national recruitment of free labour; national recruitment of unfree labour; and international and national recruitment of free labour, and analyses the influence of labour migration, war, imperialism and internationalisation.

The Determinants of International Migration in Early Modern Europe: Evidence from the Maritime Sector, c. 1700–1800

“…Nevertheless, overall the early modern maritime sector was characterized by relatively few obstacles to hamper maritime workers' freedom of movement. Second, this was a sector in which free modes of recruitment were the most common; most seamen were wage laborers, and substantial wage differences provided incentives for mobility-within individual states and internationally (Lucassen 1997).…”

“…Comparison between the general trends of international migration in early modern Europe and studies focused on international migration to specific countries show that the size and direction of migration flow match well with those constructed using the PPD. An example of the latter is provided in table 1, in which we compare data from the PPD to Lucassen's (2002) estimates of the size of four migrant communities in the province of Holland (based a range of [in particular] civic sources). The latter study is one of the few studies that provides a reliable national estimate of immigration levels for the early modern era.…”

“…Immigration rates, the dependent variable in our analysis, is derived from the PPD. Based on standardized categories to register countries of birth, residence, Lucassen (2002) and the combined Periods 1 and 2 in the PPD.…”

“…Impressive as they may be, such estimates underplay the impact of international migration in economic core regions, which were invariably located in urban areas. For instance, in Amsterdam around 1700-at the time still one of early modern Europe's key economic centers-no less than 40 percent of its population had been born abroad (Lucassen 2002). In the sending countries the impact was large, too; around 1650, 1 in every 10 individuals born in Scotland was living abroad (Van Lottum 2007).…”

Pieces of eight, pieces of eight: seamen's earnings and the venture economy of early modern seafaring†

“…Bruijn and van Heslinga, ‘Seamen's employment’; Lucassen, ‘International maritime labour market’; van Royen, ‘“National” maritime labour market’; Lucassen, ‘Multinational’; Bruijn, ‘Seafarers’; van Rossum et al., ‘Sailors’.…”